After Patrick Vieira left Arsenal for Juventus in 2005, a common complaint about Arsene Wenger’s Gunners (at least on “The IT Crowd”) was that they always tried to walk it in. Now as a manager in France (after starting his head coaching career at NYCFC), Vieira’s club was criminally guilty of trying to walk it in during the Nice vs Toulouse Ligue 1 match on Friday.
Montpellier defeated Nimes 3-0 on Sunday to go second in Ligue 1 (although PSG is already nine points clear after only eight matches), but the clash between the local rivals was marred by a series of incidents that brought the match to a standstill at Stade de la Mosson.
After Montpellier’s second goal in the 29th minute, the metal gate separating the home side supporters from the pitch collapsed during the celebrations, sending fans flying onto the pitch and resulting in a few light injuries. The match had to be stopped at this point.
PSG cruised to a 3-1 away win against Rennes on Sunday thanks to goals from Angel Di Maria, Thomas Meunier, and Eric Maxim Chuopo-Moting. They sit atop Ligue 1 with a five-point cushion above second place Lille.
PSG bounced back from defeat at Liverpool with a decent win away at Rennes!
31-year-old Frenchman Dimitri Payet scored the goal of the weekend during Marseille’s 4-0 beatdown of Guingamp in Ligue 1 action Sunday. The mercurial attacker has built a reputation for the spectacular over the last few years — including a sensational but ultimately ill-fated stint with West Ham — but his volley from nearly 25 yards out over the weekend was the sort of audacious finishing that the division hasn’t seen since Zlatan Ibrahimovic was representing PSG.
The collaboration between Paris Saint-Germain and the Jordan Brand drops tomorrow (Sept. 14), and we now have our first official glimpse at the entire collection. The offerings include two special edition kits that will be worn by PSG exclusively in the Champions League, a couple Air Jordan sneakers, Phantom and Mercurial boots with Jumpman and Swoosh branding and the entire gambit of lifestyle clothing (jackets, shorts, tees, parkas, pants, etc.).
When 18-year-old phenom Timothy Weah takes the pitch on Friday for the USMNT’s headline friendly against Brazil at MetLife Stadium in New Jersey, it’s likely that he’ll see three of his Paris Saint-Germain club teammates opposing him. With 90 caps to his name, Neymar is the most experienced of Brazil’s PSG bunch, but Thiago Silva (who’ll captain the side) isn’t far behind on 76, and defender Marquinhos has already represented the Seleção 27 times at the tender age of 24.
PSG defeated Nimes 4-2 in an action-packed Ligue 1 encounter Saturday that saw Neymar open the scoring and celebrate in front of a sign at Stade des Costières that called him a crybaby. The Brazilian, who’ll be representing the Seleção in friendlies on U.S. soil next week, was substituted off in the 91st minute having taken his total to four goals in four league games following the World Cup.
Admittedly, we’re getting tired of all these Kylian Mbappé goals. But this Mbappe goal vs Nimes was something special.
After scoring three goals in his first two appearances with Paris Saint-Germain this season, it wasn’t really a surprise to see the 19-year-old Frenchman score again on Saturday. What was surprising was the immense quality with which the goal was taken.
And his red card soon after.
Who are the fastest soccer players in the world today? Well, by working toward a composite of various top speeds collected throughout last year’s club season and this summer’s World Cup, we can somewhat confidently say that this list here comprises the 40 fastest soccer players in the world today.